Top ten tips to proofread your own fiction.
Matthew Webster-Moore
Developmental editor and proofreader of the otherworldly and spooky (sci-fi, fantasy & horror). ???? | Attuned to your style and creative vision. Sign up to Moore from Matt for a proofread-prep guide, tips, and more.
Editing and proofreading are vital steps you need to take when planning to publish your story, whether it’s a novel, short story, flash fiction, anything.
Hiring professionals for this isn’t always a necessity, albeit being highly recommended to get your book to the best possible state it can be. Whether you’re proofreading it yourself prior to publishing, or doing so before you hand it to a professional, here are my best tips I have to offer.
Keep a style sheet!
This can be as extensive as you like, but recording certain decisions as you go along (or better yet, before you get to writing) is a cornerstone to consistency.
Do you use while/whilst, among/amongst? (While narration should be consistent, keep in mind that characters’ dialogue may differ.)
Spaced en dashes or unspaced em dashes?
-rnt or -elled spellings? Smelt or smelled?
24-hour or 12-hour clock, a.m, or AM?
Record these down and consult the style sheet as you write.
Search for word variations as you go
When you come across a word that has multiple spelling variations (or two words that can be closed up, hyphenated, or left apart), run a search for its variant.
Of course, check the usage of compound adjectives – if it’s being used before the noun the hyphens are needed: I have a part-time job versus my job is part time.
Let’s say you come across wellbeing. Run a search for well-being and if that pulls up results, inconsistency is afoot! Run another search for both to see which one is the majority usage, then replace the other with it.
Give it some distance
This goes for any kind of editing, not just proofreading. Once you’ve finished writing, leave it alone for a day or two, refresh your mind, and come back to it later.
Resetting your mind like this will make you better at finding those errors because the brain gets complacent among familiarity and skips what it thinks is there.
Taking a refresher combats this.
Keep it systematic
There is plenty to look out for while proofreading (if you think it's just misspellings and typos, think again!).
Now it's true that fiction doesn't often deal with elements like tables, illustrations, captions, references, multi-level subheadings, and the like, but that doesn't mean it's all simple and rosy!
It can be difficult to juggle everything as you go. For this reason, there's never a project I start where I simply open up the document and dive straight into the proofread proper. And neither should you.
Before getting into the meaty part of proofreading, check:
Once these things are done you can get to proofreading word by word.
Read slowly
It can be tempting when proofreading to read at your leisure pace.
But this is a sure-fire way to skim straight past those things that the brain interprets as correct but aren’t – form instead of from, dependant instead of dependent.
Reading out loud will also help outwit the brain, as well as alert you to any passages that, while correct, are clunky and hard to read. (This could easily be a separate point, but if I'm anything I'm generous.)
Change the font
I use and recommend Verdana as it’s a sans serif font (no extra strokes at the ends of letters) and has good spacing between each letter.
This makes it far easier to spot mistakes.
领英推荐
Pay attention to Word's suggestions
Now, Word is wonderful. There are reasons why it's still the industry standard for editing and proofreading – add-ons, searchability, and all-round functionality is top drawer.
It has its pitfalls, however.
Word's suggestions are ... lacking, to put it kindly. From proposing incorrect grammar and missing errors to offering some downright absurdities.
A couple of examples: Word suggested I change someone who 'sipped' coffee to 'slipped' and (even better) instead of saying someone joined another 'by' the fire they should join them 'in' it! Perhaps my version just wants to get someone hurt. Maybe I should look more into this...
Anywho...
This is because Word (and other AI systems) aren't all that hot on context or the big picture, and will often offer suggestions based upon popular, more likely phrases or only by examining adjacent words. This is why it regularly fails to spot errors in subject–verb agreement when they're distant from each other.
So don't blindly accept whatever Word throws at you. Do check it for sense and correctness. And if it's wrong, give it a polite metaphorical pat on the shoulder and thank it for trying. It means well (or does it?).
Read backwards
Yep, you read that right, now try reading from right to left!
Now, I don't suggest this for the initial proofreads, where you'll be checking for sense as well as errors. But after you've done that, read it backwards.
Why?
Remember how the brain is prone to skipping over what it thinks is there but actually isn't? This is another tool in your shed to avoid your brain's trickery – reading out of order makes it nigh impossible for your brain to assume what's coming next.
Find a mistake? Reread the sentence
When you come across a mistake, it’s always a smart idea to reread the sentence again. Upon finding an error you may give yourself an internal clap on the back, but then this lapse in vigilance may lead to skipping right over something else on that line.
There’s a good chance than fixing one error has a knock-on effect on something else, too. For example, recently I caught a missing ‘y’ from ‘the’, causing me to realise the previous ‘daughter’ should have been plural.
Use Word’s Styles
Using Word’s Styles function has many benefits, and you can get started by reading my post. It takes a lot of stress off formatting by keeping everything consistent – far more difficult to do when using manual formatting.
Once you’ve styled your chapter titles, subheadings, and the body text of your manuscript you can reap the benefit of the incredibly useful outline view which lets you see the various headings grouped together to double check they’re correct and in order. Just click on the view tab, then outline view, then select various levels from the ‘Show Level’ dropdown menu.
Plus, putting everything into Styles is a step most proofreaders do for their clients, so having this done beforehand will save them time, and perhaps save you money for speeding along the process.
Here's a bonus tip because I'm just so helpful and definitely not because I'd miscounted and a title with 'eleven tips' would be awkward and would mean I'd have to redo the image. Definitely not. So here is your bonus tip...
Invest in proofreading software and tools
There are plenty of resources I could add here, but the most valuable ones I believe to be are:
While these are resources geared towards editors and proofreaders, being aware of the style guides we follow and the tools we operate goes a long way for your self-editing/proofing needs.
A recap...
Here’s a compact list of my top ten tips for proofreading your own fiction:
About the author
Matthew Webster-Moore is a professional fiction proofreader. He loves working with independent authors who are passionate about their craft, and helps to hone and publish their stories with confidence. He is also an intermediate member of the CIEP and holds an English Literature and Philosophy degree from Keele University. His preferred genres are scifi, fantasy, and horror but ventures outside them once in a while.
If you want to know more please visit his website: https://mooreattuned.com/